Exeter Property Group Buys Adjacent Warehouses

The company, which has made a handful of Memphis-area acquisitions in the past year, bought the properties Aug. 29 from affiliates of San Francisco-based Prologis Inc. Exeter 3630 East Raines LLC paid $4.4 million for the 149,332-square-foot, Class A property at 3630 E. Raines from Prologis-A4 TN I LLC.

Built in 1991, the industrial facility sits on 8.8 acres at the northeast corner of East Raines and Prescott roads. Its 2013 appraisal is $4 million.

Built in 1994, the industrial facility sits on 6.5 acres to the east of the 3630 facility. Its 2013 appraisal is $4.7 million.

Exeter in May bought the 398,992-square-foot warehouse at 5155 Citation Drive in Oakhaven for $11.3 million. And the company earlier this year bought the Smucker’s distribution warehouse in West Memphis for $15.6 million.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Haslam Announces Workforce Development Grants

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced two workforce development grants during a Monday, Sept. 16, stop in Memphis.

The grants to Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology and Southwest Tennessee Community College come from a $16.5 million line item in the state budget for competitive grants for workforce development equipment.

The announcement is the first in a series Haslam will make across the state this week, including a Wednesday stop at the Unilever plant in Covington, Tenn.

– Bill Dries

Arlington, Lakeland Early Voting Ends

Just fewer than 1,000 Arlington and Lakeland voters cast early ballots through Saturday, Sept. 14, the end of early voting in the two sets of municipal elections.

Turnout numbers from the Shelby County Election Commission show 937 early voters combined for the two towns.

The bulk of the voters – 638 – were Lakeland voters who voted Saturday, the single day of early voting in Lakeland.

The previous Saturday, Sept. 7, 271 Arlington citizens cast early votes on the only day of early voting within Arlington.

The remaining early votes were absentee ballots or early votes cast at the Shelby County Office Building, 157 Poplar Ave., in Downtown Memphis.

Election day in Arlington and Lakeland is Thursday, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The election is the first of 11 between now and Thanksgiving.

– Bill Dries

Women's Business Group Receives Sponsor for Memphis Chapter

Plans to re-establish a local chapter of Business and Professional Women of Tennessee are moving ahead, after the organization’s Jackson-area chapter voted unanimously to sponsor the local group.

The motion was made by state president Jacque Hillman at the Jackson group’s monthly meeting, which was attended by two of the Memphians seeking to restart the local chapter.

“Obtaining Jackson as a sponsor is a great benefit for us,” said Martha Ervin, one of the Memphis-area organizers, in an email. She added that the Jackson chapter had been in a similar situation in which membership had dropped off significantly, but that instead of folding, as the East Memphis/Greater Memphis chapter did last year, the Jackson group developed a plan and has grown to more than 30 members.

Ervin is finance chair for Business and Professional Women of Tennessee, the state affiliate of the BPW Foundation. The national group is an advocate for women on work-life balance and workplace equity issues.

– Daily News staff

National Bankers Trust Seeks to Move Headquarters

National Bankers Trust Corp. is seeking a four-year tax break to create 43 new jobs and invest $6 million in a new corporate headquarters in East Memphis.

National Bankers Trust hopes to move from its 13,750-square-foot location at 8245 Tournament Drive in Southwind to 813 Ridge Lake Blvd., according to a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes application to the Economic Development Growth Engine of Memphis and Shelby County.

The company said it would buy the vacant 51,000-square-foot building on Ridge Lake and use 34,000 square feet right away, with the remainder available for future expansions.

“Our goal is to revitalize the dilapidated property and restore it to a vital business facility that supports small business in our community,” the company said in its PILOT application.

The PILOT would save the company $588,649 in city and county property taxes, according to EDGE, while generating $824,887 in new tax revenue over the PILOT period. The average salary of the 43 new employees will be $42,906.

The firm said it has received multiple offers from several states to relocate its headquarters, including Fayette County, DeSoto County and Las Vegas.

The EDGE board will vote on the PILOT application Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 3 p.m. at the Better Business Bureau office, located at 3693 Tyndale Drive.

– Amos Maki

Evolve Bank & Trust Honored for Values

The Kindness Revolution, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness of values like kindness in leadership, customer service, schools and communities, has honored Evolve Bank & Trust as the “Kind Company of the Month.”

Jo Garner, an Evolve loan officer, was given the “Spirit of Kindness” award.

Ed Horrell, Kindness Revolution president and founder, said the organization is always looking to recognize corporate citizens like Evolve and their employees who give back to their communities via outstanding service and commitment to values.

Evolve is headquartered in Memphis and currently operates five full service stores in Arkansas and Tennessee as well as more than 30 mortgage production offices across the country.

– Andy Meek

Summers Withdraws From Consideration for Fed Chief

For weeks, Lawrence Summers had been considered the leading candidate to succeed Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman.

A renowned economist, Summers built close ties to President Barack Obama when he led the president’s National Economic Council in 2009 and 2010. In that role, he helped orchestrate the administration’s efforts to combat the financial crisis and the Great Recession.

But on Sunday, Summers withdrew from consideration for the Fed. His withdrawal followed growing resistance from critics, including some members of the Senate committee that would need to back his nomination.

His exit could open the door for his chief rival, Janet Yellen, the Fed’s vice chair. If chosen by Obama and confirmed by the Senate, Yellen would become the first woman to lead the Fed.

In the past, Obama has mentioned only one other candidate as possibly being under consideration: Donald Kohn, a former Fed vice chair. But Kohn, 70, has been considered a long shot.

The administration reached out to former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner early in the process. Geithner said he was not interested in being considered.

– The Associated Press

US Factory Output Rises 0.7 Percent

U.S. factories increased output in August by the most in eight months, helped by a robust month at auto plants. The gains are a hopeful sign that manufacturing could help boost economic growth in the second half of the year.

Manufacturing production rose 0.7 percent last month from July, the Federal Reserve said Monday. That’s the biggest increase since December. It followed a 0.4 percent decline in July.

Automakers increased production 5.2 percent, after a 4.5 percent decline in July. And factories stepped up production of other goods, including computers and electronics, furniture and business equipment.

Overall industrial production rose 0.4 percent in August following no change in July. Mining, which includes oil production, increased but output at utilities fell for a fifth month.